Doorway closure



Feb. 27, 1962 DOORWAY CLOSURE Filed June 30, 1960 [5f/maa IN V EN TOR. Cla/@e253 ,4 Para 262' "Y @why-22 c. A. RovLl-E 3,022,818 v United States Patent() This invention relates to .bi-fold door construction. i

Bi-fold doors are doors havingY sections hingedly connected and adapted to fold one toward the other and are, broadly, old in art. In door constructions of this type, a guide track is usually mounted directly above the bifold door in closed position and a roller, mounted at the upper corner of the leading edge of one, preferably the first, of the sections, runs in this track to control the opening( folding) and closing (unfolding) of the door.v

However, guide tracks so positioned are visible when the door is closed and are often unsightly. Valances and the like are required to hide these guide tracks and these result in an additional cost to the builder. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a bi-fold door construction that mounts the guide track behind the upper edge ofthe door in closed position. This permits a flush door installation in which the guide track is hidden by the door when closed, thereby eliminating the necessity and cost of Valances or the like to hide the guide track.

Another problem in bi-fold door construction is that the movement of the roller in the track is often restricted by binding, thereby making both closing and opening of the bi-fold door difficult. It is another object of this invention to provide a novel guide means including roller means and tracks means so utilized that binding or dragging of the front or leading door edge is eliminated both in the closing and opening of the bi-fold door.

Further, it is quite commonplace to provide means for latching or locking these doors in their closed position. These means are usually extraneous to the bi-fold door construction itself and result in cost increase and time lost in construction. Hence, another object of this invention is the provision of automatic latch means integral with the bi-fold door construction such latch means including bell crank means and the guide roller and track means.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view partially sectioned of a bi-fold door construction in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the construction of FIG. l, taken along lines 2 2;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the construction of FIG. l, showing the door in its fully opened position;

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the construction of FIG. l, showing the door in its completely closed position; and,

FIG. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the automatic latching means employed in the construction of FIG. l.

FIGS. l and 2 show a partially open doorway 1 dened, i.e., framed, by a head 2, a sill 3, and two uprights 4 and 5. It is also bounded by an exterior surface symbolized by line 6. Partially closing doorway 1 is bi-fold door 7 made up of a first section 8 and a second section 9 connected together by hinges 10 and 11.

As shown in FIGS. l, 2 and 3, section 9 of door 7 is ice pivotally connected to upright 5 along exterior surface line 6 by means of brackets 12 and 13, so that sections 8 and 9 of door 7 are foldable upon one another or foldable outwardly of exterior surface line 6 as doorway 1 is opened or closed, respectively.

Further, FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show the underside 2a of head 2 and an L-shaped guide track 124 vhaving its upper side (not visible) secured to underside'Za in an abutting relation by means of screws 15 and 16. The lower side 14b of track 14 has ilanges r1'7, 1S, 19 depending from its edges. A first leg 20 of track 14 is disposed parallel to and 'inwardly of exterior surface line 6 of doorway 1, while a second leg 21 of track -`14 lies perpendicular to and projects inwardly from exterior surface line 6 of doorway 1. Second leg 21 also parallels and lies near or adjacent to upright 4.

Next, FIGS. l`to 5 show one or two cylindrical, rollers 22 and 23, the cylindrical surfaces of which lie between and abut flanges 17 and 18 and one at surface of which parallels lower side 14b of track 14. Both rollers 22 and 23 are axially mounted for rotation on journal means. Such journal means 24 and 25, respectively, are despite any impression given to the contrary by FIGS. 2 to 5, mounted to extend upwardly from the end of one arm 26a and the elbow 26b of bell crank 26. The second arm 26e of bell crank 26 is pivotally connected at its end and inwardly of exterior surface line 6 to section 8 of door 7 by means of bracket 27.

As to the operation of the doorway closure of the present invention, beginning with FIG. 1, door 7 is pulled open by means of a handle (not shown) preferably 1ocated on section 9 near the line of hinges 10 and 11. If the closure is for a cabinet, as distinguished from a room, this handle, whatever its form, eg., that of a knob, can be positioned on the bottom of section 9, instead of upon its depicted surface. As door 7 opens, section 8 folds upon section 9 about hinges 10 and 11, section 9 pivots on brackets 12 and 13, and section 8 pivots on bracket 27. Simultaneously, bell crank 26 is moved along track leg 20 by means of rollers 22 and 23 mounted on arm 26a until the latter is stopped by flange 19 on track 14, as in FIG. 3.

As door 7 is closed, sections 8 and 9 separate about hinges 10 and 11, section 9 again pivots about brackets 12 and 13, and section 8 again pivots about bracket 27. Bell crank 26 travels along track leg 20 by means of rollers 22 and 23 mounted on arm 26a until the latter turns into track leg 21. This is shown in FIG. 2. When door 7 is closed, bell crank arm 26a underlies track leg 21 and bell crank arm 26a extends beyond, but in the line of, track leg 20 inwardly of exterior surface line 6, so that the whole closure mechanism is hidden out of sight behind the door depicted in FIG. 4. Further, when door 7 is closed, the final turning of bell crank arm 26a into track leg 21 by means of rollers 22 and 23 not only brings section- 8 of the door home against upright 4 outwardly of exterior surface line 6, but it latches the entire `door in place, since a distinct force, as distinguished from air currents or vibrations, at least initially paralleling track leg 21 as indicated in FIG. 5 is required to dislodge bell crank arm 26a and the rollers therefrom.

What is claimed is:

In combination with a doorway frame having a head, a sill, two uprights, and an exterior surface, the head 3 Y o Y having an underside, an L-shaped guide track having an upper side, a. lower side, a first leg,iand a second. leg, the

upper side being abnttingly secured to the underside, the

lower side being provided along its edges with down- Wardly depending anges, the rst leg being disposed parallel to and inwardly of the exterior surface, the second leg being disposed perpendicular to and projecting inwardly from the exterior surface adjacent one upright, two rollers journaled for rotation movably disposed between the flanges, a bell crank having a rst arm, a second arm, and an elbow, the rst arm and the elbow being provided with upwardly extending roller journalling means and the two rollers being mounted on the journal- Iing Vmeans ,and a door comprising two hingedly conn nected sections positioned on and foldable outwardly from the exterior surface, one section being pivotally connected to the second arm, the other section being pivotally connected to tbe other upright.

Shoemaker Nov. 29, 1932 Albach et ai. Feb. 4, 1941 

